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tv   Erin Burnett Out Front  CNN  December 6, 2012 4:00pm-5:00pm PST

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driver? >> use your car to mount a nissan sentra. the number one sign your dog is a bad driver, always taking eyes off-road to lick himself. >> being trained to drive with treats is sure to have dogs heading for the closest drive through. do you want to be the designated driver? who wants to be the designated driver tonight? definitely not napoleon. driving is his waterloo. i said hit the brake, not eat the cake. >> very funny. >> very, very funny. >> erin burnett "outfront" >> erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "outfront" next, just 25 days until the fiscal cliff and a new idea is born. it comes from an unexpected source. howard dean, does the former vermont's governor's plan add up? plus, a sailor charged with espionage and the war on drugs.
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we lost it. sir richard branson is "outfront." let's go "outfront." good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, a bright idea. brought to us by the liberal former governor of vermont, howard dean. a man who brought us the scream heard around the world when reran for president. dean says let's face it, america, tacks need to go up for everyone. now, this might not be what you expect from someone like howard dean. it's certainly not the president's position or the position of most americans. another new poll out today shows that most people like the president's idea of only raising taxes on other people. specifically, the top 2%.
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the problem is according to the congressional research service, the math doesn't add up. that tax hike would only give $678 billion in additional revenue over ten years, now, remember, we're $16 trillion in the debt. now, if we go with howard dean's idea, that gets us $2.8 trillion or about 17% of our debt. adam davidson is the cofounder of planet money and he did the math. he wrote in "the new york times" a while ago, a set of numbers that has stuck with me ever since that increasing the middle class tax burden 8% would have a bigger impact than taxing millionaires at 100%. of course, once you tax millionaires at 100%, there's nothing else left to get them the next year. even bill clinton agrees. here's what he said at a conference i saw him at back in may. >> i think you could tax me at 100% and you wouldn't balance
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the budget. we're all going to have to contribute to this and if middle class people's wages were going up again and we had some growth in the economy, i don't think they would object to going back to the tax rates. >> with no breakthrough today, fiscal cliff negotiations, could this be a starting point? "outfront" republican congressman james lankford of oklahoma, incoming chairman of the republican policy committee, the fifth ranking position in the house gop leadership. appreciate you're taking the time. what about this idea of racinin taxes on everyone? the math works much better. >> i heard your lead in when you said this is a new idea. actually, it's not a new idea, there are several democrats who have floated that for a while. the code word is we want to go back to the clinton tax rates and talk about the clinton economy that we had a much more vigorous economy and growth and we should go back to the clinton tax rates. what that really means is all tax rates on all americans go
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back up because the tax rates were brought down in 2001 and 2003. i don't support that. i don't think that's a great idea. it would slow down the economy. >> when you look at economist's evaluations, it would slouw dow the economy. it would. there's no question about it. but if the problem is that we have a lot of debt and there has to be some pain whether it be in cuts or the form of higher tax revenues, it means there has to be some pain. $2.8 trillion. that's 17% of our debt wiped out overnight. if you're worried about the debt, how can't you look at that seriously? >> well, the reason i would say it's not going to be 17% of our debt on that because right now, we're running a trillion dollar deficit year single year. if we went back to zero, we're rebalanced. right now with the fourth year in a row, that deficit and debt continues to climb. so it doesn't really wipe it out
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and the challenge of it is what does that do to the overall economy. we're not just dealing with one tax increase as well. a lot of people lose track of that. the affordable care about actually begin on january 1st as well for people making $200,000 or more. or people having large medical bills. this is talking about an additional tax increase on top of that. >> what about what bill clinton said? he said once things start to get better and that's a crucial point he was making. once the economy starts to get better, taxes have to go up on the middle class. do you agree? is. >> i don't, actually. and the reason being is that right now, if you look at the real math, in 2007 and 012, we have the same amount of revenue. now, 2008 and 2009, we had a dramatic drop in federal revenues, but we've slowly climbed back up. revenue has gone up every year of the obama administration and now, we're at historic highs. the same as we were five years ago. the difference is, our spending has increased a trillion
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dollars. >> yeah, but a lot of that spending is things to help the economy. it's the payroll tax cut extension, which your party supported. it's extending unemployment benefits. it's things like that. t the war. >> that's going to be the challenge of the whole perspective. we've got two philosophies. one says we're spending too much. the other saying we're not spending enough. that's hurting our economy. obviously, the last four years have been more focused on the spending. we continue to pile up more and more debt, we've crossed 100% of debt to gdp. >> but you're line of thinking, i feel like we end up in a situation where all you doe is keep cutting taxes. you start to have a revenue problem. you give a payroll tax, you don't want to tack it away. you keep giving out things and never take them back. >> well, that's the same thing we do on the spending side.
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>> all those agencies -- is now stretched into stimulus spending, so we're dealing with the same thing. >> b -- that's a separate con ver sag, busy they are, i'm saying you're doing to same thing on the tax side, so we end up spending more thanks to democrats and the country is going to a worst place. >> the context is really important on this. in 2003 when tax rates were brought down. and then in 2010, we were still in a bad place, the president and democrats said the economy's
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weak, we can't raise taxing on anybody, including the upper 2% and they choose a weak economy in 2010 not to do that because they knew that would hurt the economy. we have the same economy now that we did two years ago. consumer confidence is is up, but gdp growth has gone down. >> tom coburn has been out talking about the fact that rates need to go up on the top 2% in terms of get ago deal done. here he is on abc news. sorry. i'll read it to you. >> so whether we want taxes to go up or not -- taxes aren't going to go up at the beginning of the year if you don't do a deal, so the only deal you could do would have them go up. that seems to be that people like you or a republican, you don't have a lot of leverage. >> and that's the challenge when you're dealing with spending.
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that creates the situation where we say no that's a bad idea. the majority of taxes should not go up, but we also believe it shouldn't go up on the upper bracket. dividends on the upper bracket would move from 15% on december 31st to 43.4% on the first of january. that's a really big cut. the wealthy would stop doing stocks. what this hurts is seniors depending on dividends and pension fund. so it does have a trickle down effect. >> changes haven't really affected stock prices, which is crucial, but fair point. >> it does affect the number of stocks that offer dividends. once dividends went down to that 15% rate, a lot of people ran through that. that would go away, which would
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cause a major shuffle among senior adults now. >> thank you very much for the time now. "outfront" next, chris christie. he went to the white house today. he went hat in hand. he asked for $36 billion in money for new jersey. wait. isn't he a fiscal hawk? plus, syrian president accuses the u.s. of manufacturing stories as a pretext for an invasion. leon panetta responds tonight and a day after john mcagree is taken into custody, he was rush to the hospital. we'll be back. for their clients. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪
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our second story, chemical weapons. the world is watching syria and america is the country that will act if there is action. defense secretary leon panetta issued a warning to syria today saying the united states will not stand by and watch the country cross a quote unquote red line. >> whole world is watching very closely. and the president of the united states has made very clear that
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there will be consequences. there will be consequences. if the assad regime makes a terrible mistake by using these chemical weapons. >> syria denies it is mobilizing chemical weapons in a civil war in which 40,000 people have lost theirs in 21 months. instead, they say they're trying to create fear and set for an attack. hillary clinton met with russia's foreign minister twice today in dublin. these are important meetings because russia is a syrian alley. but is it too late? national security contributor, fran townsend, is a member of the cia. cedrick layton member of the joipt staff. what are those consequences? is the u.s. going to passing the point of no return here? >> well, it is, look, the most
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recent information suggests they're preparing to be able to launch these warheads containing gas and other chemical weapons. that's a problem because now, a military strike could trigger the dissemination of such weapons. what you have to do now is is get the timely tactical intelligence to interrupt the decision cycle. that is get between assad and the individual who presses the button to launch that missile. that's a very ask, very difficult, but now, that's the position we're really in. >> just to be honest, hasn't really seemed to be at least totally aware of everything happening every step of the way here. >> okay, except there was a wmd commission that looked at the failures in iraq and strengthened the committee. there are standards for assessing the credibility of sources. for how an analyst assesses a source and the information. and we know from the president's action against bin laden, he
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will ask the hard questions, what don't we know. what confidence do you have in the sources and intelligence before he makes a decision? >> as fran is referring to, when people think about wmd and the u.s. saying oh, syria has this. a lot of people think back to iraq when the u.s. made claims that turned out not to be true. tom foreman reported on what syria reportedly has. three deadly kinds of chemical weapons. the first is mustard gas. also sarin, can cause tremors and death, then the vx nerve agent. one of the most deadly chemicals in the world. how good is the intelligence on what syria really has? >> it is pretty good, but it's not going to be foolproof and they are going to be some elements of intelligence that are guesswork, but still, they're going to be conjectured.
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the t not like a court of law where you can go in and say this is the evidence. irrefutable proof. but on the other hand, there are certain things that the intelligence community can do. for example, they can assess how stockpiles are accumulating in the country. you mentioned that the russians had supplied some of these chemical agents and that is true. you can assess how each of these areas, you know what they've done, how they've done it and how often. also, you can have some intelligence that specifically outlines exactly how good the chemical weapons are. whether they will be used, what kind of training these people have and all this is weighed in. >> there are reports that the assad regime has loaded on to missiles, that they are ready to go. to your point, you need to get between assad and the person who's going to push the button. how do we know that? that they've loaded them on to
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missiles? >> there have been reports this week from the "new york times" about preparations and from nbc. now, do we know that's accurate? we don't. they're trying to assess exactly where are they in the decision cycle. where are they in the tactical process of preparing those missiles. >> what happens from here? it seems like it's divided more into anarchy and civil war. you have al-qaeda groups. many groups fighting in syria. it's a proxy war some say between the u.s. and iran. if assad goes, there are still 75 chemical weapon sites around this country and others who wouldn't have the moral hesitancy assad may have about using them. >> regardless of what happens to al assad, we had this threat, this problem, not only to us, but to our allies in the region. turkey, jordan, israel, all worry if assad falls, there must
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be a plan to secure these chemical weapon sites, but we should tell our viewers that u.s. militaries understood this problem and have been planning and work wg allies over the region over the course of the last 12 months. they have been planning for it. >> thank you very much. both of you. "outfront" next, a 20-year veteran of the navy accused tonight of being a spy. why officials think he was leaking crucial secrets to the russians and as two states prepare to -- sir richard bransens tells us why the war on drugs has been an utter failure. [ male announcer ] introducing... a new way to save on your prescriptions. it's the aarp medicarerx saver plus plan from unitedhealthcare. with this plan, you can get copays as low as a dollar
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accused navy spy, a former u.s. sailor from virginia beach has been charged with attempted espionage. 39-year-old robert hoffman tried to pass classified information to a russian informant, but spoke to an under cover fbi agent. he served in the united states navy for 20 years. this raises serious questions about the level of security clearance he might have had and his access to top secret
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information. "outfront" tonight, chris lawrence. what specifically do federal agents expect him of doing? >> basically, they say in the the indictment that he tried to give a secret document to someone that detailed how to track u.s. submarines. now, this document basically not only outlined the procedures you would use to do that, but the actual technology that you would need to track u.s. submarines. it's very serious because us navy officials will often tell us where surface ships and carriers are located around the world at any particular moment. they almost never discuss where the subs are. that is classified information. now, the zimt says that hoffman thought he was giving this to a russian intelligence agent. actually, what he was doing was handing it over to an fbi agent working an undercover sting. these are very serious charges. he could face life in prison. >> and when you think about what
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other information he may have had access to, what's his background and what sort of information might he have had? >> pretty high. you mentioned he had been in for 20 years. he was a petty officer first class. his rating was a kryps toe logic, a way of saying he was in the intelligence gathering field. he was a naval submarine warfare specialist. so he had access to a lot of information, but the interesting thing is over that 20-year career, he had six good conduct co , won numerous awards. remember, he had only be out of the service less than a year when he's trying to allegedly hand over this secret document to a russian spy. >> thanks very much. next, new jersey republican governor chris christie in washington today asking for money. hypocritical or not? and a day after internet guru
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welcome back. we start the second half of our show with stories we care about where we focus on our reporting from the front lines. first, john mcafee was rushed to a guatemalan hospital today. his attorney says he was being treated for cardiovascular problems. he had been taken into custody yesterday, accused of entering the country illegally. here's what he was saying as he was arrested. >> john, where are you going? >> pretty awesome to be in jail in guatemala. he requested asylum, was denied. he could be deported to belize, where of course police want to question him about his
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neighbor's murder. michigan police were forced to block the entrance of the capitol building today. thousands of people stormed it to protest right to work legislation. one police official estimates as many as 4,000 people were inside and around the capitol building. the legislation introduced by rick schneider would limit union's abilities to collect dues. the bill passed the house today. the us navy is moving ships into position to monitor a north korean possible rocket launch. the defense department tells barbara starr that two ships are being moved to an unspecified position to provide reassurance to allies. the sources say it's possible two more ships could be sent to the region in the next few days and the taliban has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that wounded afghanistan's intelligence chief. an official says the attacker targeted the chief as he was leaving a meeting. hamid karzai told reporters he's
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confidence he will recover. i will be reporting live from afghanistan next week on the future of the country. it has been 490 days since the u.s. lost its top credit rating. good news on jobs. initial jobless claims fell more than expected. down 25,000 and now, our fourth story "outfront." high times in washington state tonight. a new law legalizing recreational use of marijuana went into effect today. while it is legal to smoke pot -- toke up, baby. it's not yet legal to fro or sell it. tonight, his eyes look pretty clear. gla glassy. miguel, set us straight. if no one can legally sell marijuana, what does this law which is so ground breaking, really change? >> one. i've been up 37 hours, so i'm not looking so good tonight, but two, this is only the beginning.
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they are creating an industry here if this thing comes to fruition. if the feds don't step in and somehow stop it. pot is legal now to own an ounce if you're over 21. it's treated basically like alcohol. but in a year's time, you'll have pot stores in and across washington state. you'll have licensed pot growers, pot processors, cookie bakers. brownie makers, then stores to buy it in, but you wouldn't be able to do it amsterdam style, where you can do it in cafes or coffee houses and use it there. you'd have to take it home and use it in private. it will unleash, people are saying, a wave of an industry and growth here. >> interesting. you know, barney frank told me he eats pot brownies and sir richard branson said he'd eat pot brownie, but are cops going to leave users alone, and just go for the dealers? are they really going to pursue
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this? >> at this point, it looks like everyone's going to take a break and step back and see where things go. it's going to be legal to possess. going forward, it's not likely they are going to do after dealers, but they don't want people flouting the law. they want to put these processes into place and they will tax it all at 25%, by the way, and they believe in the first couple of year, they'll make as much as $5 million a year. a pretty big piece of the budget. >> it certainly is. the problem is though, this is all states rights versus the federal government. but it's still a federal crime, so what's the federal government going to do? could they shut it all down? >> this is the $64 billion question. what is the federal government
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going to do. the only thing they've said is they're reviewing the laws, they're going to sit back and see how they are implemented and see where they can go from there. they've reminded both states pot is still illegal. i think the concern is when you create these havens of legal pot in colorado and here in washington state and have a black market around them, what's going on the effect? are these going to be magnets for illegal pot? are you going to have problems on the border a? it's not clear. they're waiting and seeing how this goes. >> thanks very much to miguel. miguel's talking about marijuana and it got us thinking about the war on drugs. it's cost this country more than a trillion dollars since it was launched by president nixon as the war on drugs 40 years aerks but the effort is being dubbed a failure and waste of money. here's former president bill clinton. >> well, obviously, if the expected results that we eliminate serious drug use in
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america and eliminate the narco trafficking networks, it hasn't worked. >> maybe he regrets not inhaling. president clinton appears in a new documentary and one of the film's backers joins me. branson is also a member of the global drug commission and i poke to him and asked him why he thinks the war on drugs is a failure. >> basically because fact yur of prohibition of alcohol in the '20s and '30s when the under world and al capone, every was disobeying the law and it became almost more fashionable to drink with prohibition than it would have been without prohibition. over the last two years, i've become part of something called the global drug commission. the it's got in ex-presidents on it. we've examined all the facts an the commission as a whole have
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said that we believe drugs should be treated as a health problem and not a criminal problem. >> well, you have an amazing statistic. in the op-ed you wrote saying we spend about $30,000 billion a year to incarcerate an inmate, but we spend under $12,000 for public school students. >> it's terrifying. there are i think 800,000 people who are in prison for smoking marijuana today in america. an enormous amount of people. it would be you know, so much better if they were out of prison and being useful members of society. we just put out a film, putting out a film tomorrow, my son's made it, called breaking the taboo, which puts across these alternative, different ways. >> if legalizing is part of solution, what would you legalize? just pot? other drugs as well? >> what the commission is saying
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and these are people who when they were in power, did not have the bravery to do something about it. they all accept that. now, they're out of power, they raelds realize that. >> bill clinton. >> exactly and so, you know, what they're saying is first of all, treat drugs as a health problem, not a criminal problem, so anybody who uses drugs, you know, do not lock them up. if they've got, if they use them in excess like if somebody uses alcohol, then help them. >> there have been studies done on marijuana that show especially on younger people that it is often a gateway drug, that people who use it and get used to it will perhaps experiment with harder drugs. is that something that worries you or do you think that's not a fair concern? >> i think the possibility that people who you can go out in the street to buy their marijuana are going to be pushed into
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other drugs is considerable. i think if it's regulated and taxed and monitored properly by the authorities, that goes away and actually pulls the rug out from under the drug pushers. >> what about the harder drugs? >> what we've proposed with the harder drugs is do what portugal's done and that is let the state set up clinics throughout america that if you have a drug problem, you go to that clinic. give them the methadone until their ready to come off and when they're ready, use a drug clinic which costs a third of a price of a prison in order to get them back into society. >> so, it's how you're treating them, but you're not making it legal to buy heroin or cocaine. >> no, but what you've done by having the state provide it to these people who've got a problem has pulled the rug out from people who are pushing it. >> it's interesting when this country has the office of
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national -- we have a lot of groups dealing with this, when we asked them about the film and about the idea of sort of legalizing and focusing on drugs, they say look, we spend more on drug education and treatment than they do on law enforcement. what could they do better? >> what they could do better is simply stop locking people up. if you are sent to prison, you end up in far worse state than if you were actually sent to a drug rehabilitation center and helped. >> you're known as such a free spirit, right? do you smoke marijuana? >> i'm a '60s lad. i tried a split or two when i was a teenager. i decided that drink was my drug of choice, and so i prefer white wine or beer to marijuana, but you know, whether children of mine do, we'll, that's another story. >> i'm sure, right, they're in the age where i suppose it can
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be. all right, well, thank you very much. really appreciate your time. >> cheers, thank you. >> pretty interesting and serious topic, although he did say afterwards that he would want to try pot brownies. breaking the taboo will be able on youtube this evening and his opinion is on cnn.com/opinion right now and it is amazing. some of the statistics are unforgettable. up next, mohammed morsi addresses supporters and protesters and buildings are on fire. and chris christie goes to washington. hands out with the request for billions of dollars. and i relieve nasal congestion. overachiever. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria.
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and we are back with tonight's outer circle where we reach out to our sources around the world. the speech by morsi and tonight, president obama spoke with morsi on the phone expressing his concerns about how violent the protests are. we asked why morsi's speech failed to -- >> reporter: egypt and much of the world anxiously waited to see if president morsi's speech
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would pacify the two sides and win over the opposition based on the reaction to the speech. the president tried to do two things with this speech. he called for all political factions to get together and talk things out this saturday. he also called for calm and he issued a stern warning to protesters to stop the violence, but he did not back down from his key position, that is his controversial draft constitution will be voted on on december 15st and the decrees that gave him additional powers, he did not reverse them. he said that will only happen after the referendum. immediately after his speech, opponents of the president called for his ouster outside the palace and one of the muslim brotherhood offices was torched. sign that the conflict continues. >> now, to london where a man who has been called the world's greatest living explorer is
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about to cross antarctica on food. becky anderson spoke with him and i asked her about the conditions he faces. >> he is already considered the world's greatest living explorer. this 68-year-old british pioneer has today marked the start of the coldest journey on earth. that is crossing the ant ark arctic on food in winter. we are talking at 2,000 miles in almost complete darkness in temperatures that plunge to minus 90 degrees celsius. as he told me, if anyone on his team gets injured, they are on their own. >> if we run into problems like that, there is no help. all the rescue facilities shut off. that's why every government, the americans, the germans, have rules you do not let civilians go down there in winter because
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if something happens, they will become an embarrassment to their government. >> well, after four years, he managed to get permission and his ship is on its way. he told me there's just one thing he's looking forward to before he sets off and that is a long, hot, soapy bath. it will be his last for six months. >> wow, that is pretty incredible. it's cold there, so if you don't take a bath, you don't smell. hey, anderson. >> we're keeping them honest. a surprising case of why a attorney protecting the rights of disabled people failed to pass a senate vote. bob dole supported it. john mccain, a lot of the republicans frankly killed it based on made up facts. you'll hear from ted kennedy jr. tonight. that's a picture of his dad taken about six years after he
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lost his leg. also, gary tuckman has a report as bizarre as it is troubling. hundreds of children, they were picking pecans instead of being in school. the leader is warren jeffs, they ran away when gary showed up with the camera. what's worse, the kids aren't being paid, but someone was and we'll also talk to the photographer who took the now infamous photographs of the man killed in new york and what he saw through his lens and what other people did and did not do on that subway flat form. all at the top of the hour. now, our fifth story "outfront." new jersey's republican governor, chris christie, was at the white house on capitol hill today asking for more funding for his storm ravaged state. as republicans in washington continue to slam the president for additional spending is well,
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perhaps problematic. chuck schumer whose own home state of new york was hit hard by sandy, pointed out the irony of the request. it doesn't come at an oper tune time. will christie's move hurt his party or not? good to see both of you. let me ask you because i don't know you spoke early on about how well you thought you thought chris christie handled this storm, politically and every other way and now asking for federal funding and republicans trying to cut spending. is he hurting his own party in. >> i think whether you're a republican or democratic governor, you want to secure money from people who are not your own taxpayers but federal taxpayers. that's just a classic move. now, is he -- >> human nature, i guess. >> it sure is. is it undermining republicans in congress? it probably is. but frankly he's looking out for his own political future and really the only option. new jersey is in a very tight
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fiscal situation. partly because they have a balanced budget requirement. this is had a huge impact on the state economy. frankly, i think you see more situatictuations in which the governors are pitted against congressmen and they want that money to go to state and locals in terms of stimulus. whether you're republican or democrat they're in a unique position. >> come on! please, please. okay. can there really be one conversation where it is absolutely not so much all about politics? here's what i mean by that. if that was a natural disaster in south carolina, republican governor, texas, republican govern or the, tennessee, republican governor, they would be doing the exact same thing. the responsibility of a governor, whether you're a democrat or republican, is to serve the interests of the citizens of your state.
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not your party. and this is part of a problem, erin. not only that, those same members of congress, guess what. the new jersey delegation, i'm sure they're also saying, yes, governor, do this. the same thing if it was in florida. some other state. this is exactly what you do when you have a federal disaster. and so it's not about party but the people who are being hurt, who have had their homes damaged. not whether or not some politician can be able to say, oh, we don't like federal funding. >> well, roland you and i are saying essentially the same thing. this is what governors are likely to do. is this a smart thing to do and the deeper problem -- >> yes. >> when you look at state governments, when they don't -- when they're not on the hook for the money you're spending they're less likely to pursue responsible policies in the first place. look at florida. that's subsidizing development in flood-prone areas. new jersey is rebuilding areas super vulnerable to these storms. >> that is a separate issue. >> very bad decision making and
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expecting federal taxpayers on the hook for that you don't make smart planning decisions for this. >> covering their own butts if you will. but they're doing something that's damaging the country as a whole and the fiscal future of the country as a whole. >> erin? >> yes? >> when fires ravaged texas, governor rick perry felt the federal government should have declared the emergency areas to qualify for what? federal funds. the bottom line is this here. when you have natural disasters, this is natural. democrat or republican governors. again, forget the party. governor chris christie should not be concerned about his political future or the republican national committee but concerned about every citizen in the state he was elected to serve. his job, those are his constituents. that's his job. >> well, look. i see where you're coming from but we have to think about this in a broader sense. okay? if every state is looking out only for itself, what they're going to do is free ride. they're going to engage in
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policies that damage everyone's wellbeing over the long term looking out for their own re-election prospects. >> wait, wait. >> they're really political rather than looking out for the long-term interests of the citizens, their states and also the country as a whole. >> last i checked -- >> beforehand rather than subsidize development and dangerous areas and that's moral hazard and that's something that's bringing the country to the knees economically. >> last i checked you look out for yourself. >> that's public servants are supposed to do, roland. >> no. in new york, you are concerned about new york and not california. you focus on where you are. that's the reality. >> all right. we are going to hit pause there. please let us know what you think about that conversation on twitter and facebook page. next, when's a bigger insult? being called, you know, lame duck congress or new york jet? ts
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washington has gone silent over the fiscal cliff. most of our lawmakers have headed home. the left and the right aren't speaking to each other. of course, even though they're not talking to each other, that doesn't mean they're not talking
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about each other. here's what harry reid had to say about republicans today. >> it's not one of my favorite teams but it's really, really fun to watch and that's the new york jets. coach ryan. he's got a problem. he has three quarterbacks. sanchez, he's got tim tebow. he's a guy named mcelroy. he can't decide who their quarterback is going to be. that's the same problem of the republicans. >> wow. if you don't live in new york or follow football, the new york jets are a nfl team that is currently plagued by horrible things. embarrassing losses, infights and culminated the butt fumble on thanksgiving of sanchez. it -- yeah. it shows how grim it is for the new york jets since it's synonymous with infighting. the hometown paper slammed